Cuban Communism

There is no handier guide to the Castro regime and the debates swirling around it.-Foreign Affairs

Appearing in the aftermath of the stunning events surrounding the Elian Gonzalez case, the nature of Cuban Communism has again become a core issue for the American people. Cuban Communism has widely come to be known as "the Bible of Cuban Studies." It has been updated and upgraded for the fourth decade of Castro's successful seizure of power, the longest running dictatorship in the world. In addition to articles and essays representing recent developments in Cuba, the work boasts an update of three new features that will make it even more important to students, scholars, and researchers in the area.

The volume has an entirely new section on future prospects for civil society and democracy for Cuba in a post-Castro environment. It also contains a chronology of events from 1959 through 2000 that will be important as a guide for studying the period. Finally, the work contains a brief but carefully constructed who's who of important players in Cuba and the regime during the Castro-period.

Some of the articles new to the tenth edition of Cuban Communism are by Ernesto Betancourt, "Technical Assistance Needs for Institutional Transformation"; Andrew Natsios, "Humanitarian Assistance During a Democratic Transition in Cuba"; Juan J. Lopez, "Non-Transition in Cuba"; Michael Radu, "United States and Cuba after Castro"; Sergio Diaz-Briquets, "International Lending Institutions in Cuba's Transition Process," and "Future Security Issues between the United States and Cuba" by Brian Latell. This edition sheds new light on why, despite predictions of imminent collapse, the Castro regime has remained in power. It offers insights into the survival potential of dictatorships and illegitimate regimes despite crisis and ostracism. It is, more than ever, a must volume for those interested in comparative political systems and social structures.

Irving Louis Horowitz is Hannah Arendt Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Political Science at Rutgers University. Among his works are Three Worlds of Development, Beyond Empire and Revolution, and the Bacardi Lectures on Cuba, published as The Conscience of Worms and the Cowardice of Lions.

Jaime Suchlicki is Bacardi Professor of History at the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Miami, and executive director of its Cuban-American and Cuban Center. He is author of From Columbus to Castro, University Students and Revolution in Cuba, and Mexico: From Montezuma to Nafta, Chiapas and Beyond .